Hat presser and shaper.



Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

IIIIIIIIIIITTIW O. G. REITZ.

HAT PRESSER AND SHAPBR.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.2, 1911.

I I I [N VEN TOR m c.

' S Attorney WITNESSES shown and to be later described.

. changing the contour of the pressing and UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OF JEANNETTE PENNSYLVANIA.

CHARLES C. REITZ,

HAT PRESSER AND SHAPER.

Patented Feb. 2'7, 1912.

Serial No. 652,359.

1,018,680. Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 2, 1911.

attached as by screws or other means to the underneath face of the supporting table 5 and having threaded openings which register with the openings 5 in the table. These clamping screws are provided at their upper ends, below the finger grip of the screws, with washers 5 substantially in the shape of a frustum of a cone, and which act on the brim-engaging portion 9 to force the latter into firm engagement with the hat brim. The brim 11 of the hat is clamped between the'br'im-engaging portion 9 of the aforesaid presser member and the table or base 5, while the crown 12 of the hat extends into the crown member 8 of said presser member, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The crown member 8 of the presser member is'made of arsize sufficient to take in the crowns of hats within a reasonable range of sizes.

In order to press the top of the hat crown at the same time that the brim of the hat is being pressed and straightened, I provide the two presser plates designated 14 and 15 respectively, the presser plate 14: being preferably somewhat larger in diameter than the presser plate 15. These plates are carried on the ends of adjusting screws 16 and 17 respectively. The screw 16 is threaded through the top 8 of the crown member 8, and the screw 17 is threaded through a sub plate 17 attached to the underneath face of the table 5 in the same manner as the plates 5. The inner ends of the screws are connected to the plates 14:, 15 in any desirable or suitable manner. The presser plate 15 enters the crown 12 of the hat and engages the top 18 of said hat on the inner or under face thereof, while the presser plate 14 engages the upper or top face of said crown top 18, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The presser plate 15 is made of slightly smaller diameter than the presser plate 14:, in order to provide for the use of the device within a reasonable range of different sizes of hats.

In operation, the clamping screws 10 are unscrewed from the table 5 and the presser member comprising the crown and brim portions 8 and 9 removed, and the hat is then placed on the table or base 5 and screw 17 adjusted so as to place the presser plate 15 against the under The top presser member is To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. Itnrrz, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Jeannette, in the county of Westmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat Pressers and Shapers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in hat pressers and shapers, and relates more specifically to a presser and shaper for hats having a straight brim, such for instance, as straw hats of the type known as sailors.

The invention has for its object the provision of a presser and shaper having means for pressing and shaping the top of the hat crown simultaneously with the pressing and shaping of the hat brim.

In the embodiment of the invention chosen for illustrative purposes, the presser and shaper is shown as constructed specifically, for the pressing and shaping of the sailor type of straw hat, but obviously by the device may be adapted shaping plates,

of hats than that herein to other shapes In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a hat shaper and presser in accordance with my invention partly broken away to show the interior or crown-engaging presser plates. Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the device showing a straw hat of the sailor type in position in the device.

To put my invention into practice, I provide a table or base 5 preferably, though not necessarily, of circular shape as shown, which table or base has a plurality of suitable supporting legs 6 by which it is held supported some distance above a table or other support 7 In connection with the said base or supporting table 5, I employ a presser member comprising a crown-like portion 8, and a brim-engaging portion 9. The diameter of the said presser member, including its two portions 8 and 9, is substantially the same as the diameter of the supporting base or table 5. The brimengaging portion 9 is provided near its periphery with a plurality of openings 9, and the table 5 is likewise provided at corresponding points with openings 5. Clamping screws 10 pass through said openings and into small sub-plates 5 suitably then replaced,

face of the hat crown.

with the brim-engaging portion 9 resting on p then inserted and screwed down, and as the washers 5 engage the upper face of the portion 9, the latter will be pressed downwardly upon the hat brim 11, firmly clamping said brim between the base or table 5 and the brim portion 9 of the top presser member. Screw 16 will also be turned down so as to force the presser plate 14 into engagement with the upper face of the hat crown, and with both the top of the hat crown and the brim clamped in the manner stated, the hat is left in the presser until the desired shaping thereof has been eflected.

Then the presser plate 15 has once been adjusted to a certain size hat, it is a very simple matter to place the top presser member on the hat and clamp it down during the time the hat is not being worn, thus main taining the hat in its original shape.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a hat press and shaper, base or table upon which the a supporting brim of the hat to be shaped is received, a presser mem ber embodying a crown and a brim portion,

the brim portion of said presser member 00- acting with the base or table to clamp the brim of the hat therebetween, clamping screws passing through the brim portion of the presser member and the supporting base or table for clamping the presser member and the base or table together, a screw threaded through the top of the crown portion of said presser member, a presser plate carried by said screw within said crown portion, a screw mounted centrally of the supporting base or table, and a presser plate carried by said screw coacting with the presser plate within the crown member for pressing the top of the hat crown.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES C. REITZ.

WVitnesses: V

H. V. ROWAN, B. W. KUNKLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

